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Taaleem Award 2018

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MEMORIES<br />

Winning Entries from the<br />

<strong>Taaleem</strong> <strong>Award</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

www.taaleem.ae


<strong>Taaleem</strong><br />

<strong>Award</strong><br />

Memories<br />

Note to readers: please be aware that these winning<br />

poems have not been edited.


Published in <strong>2018</strong> for the LitFest<br />

PO Box 24506 Dubai, UAE<br />

Tel: 00971 4 355 9844<br />

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MC-04-01-1273496<br />

Printed by Jamalon FZ - LLC<br />

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in<br />

or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any<br />

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the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Any person who does<br />

any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal<br />

prosecution and civil claims for damages.


INTRODUCTION<br />

<strong>Taaleem</strong> <strong>Award</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

“Memories” is an essential theme in poets’ lives. Through it they can bring back and<br />

keep alive unforgettable experiences. Their poetic creativity explodes to produce the<br />

finest and most beautiful poems.<br />

This theme fits perfectly with the tenth edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of<br />

Literature in <strong>2018</strong> to tell the story of a decade of excellence and creativity.<br />

After we announced the theme of the <strong>Taaleem</strong> <strong>Award</strong> this year, we were delighted to<br />

receive entries from students from all of the seven emirates. Their wonderful poems<br />

express the past that still lives in their memories, the past that carries both happiness<br />

and sadness but always gives us hope of a brighter future.<br />

We thank <strong>Taaleem</strong> for their generous support for this unique award. As a specialized<br />

foundation supporting education in the UAE, <strong>Taaleem</strong> understands the importance of<br />

concentrating on youth to allow them to develop their talents in different sectors.<br />

Rosamund Marshall, the CEO of <strong>Taaleem</strong>, says:<br />

“The importance of this Poetry <strong>Award</strong> goes beyond one student, school, organisation or<br />

emirate. It is an open invitation to all the young creative minds to come forward and be<br />

heard. Poetry is a natural component of literature and culture in the UAE and is woven<br />

into its rich heritage.”<br />

We are enormously grateful to the two judges, Frank Dullaghan and Joan Scott-Minter,<br />

for the generous time and meticulous care they put in to choosing the winning poets.<br />

We would also like to thank the teachers who believe in their students’ poetic talents<br />

and the parents who encourage their children to have the honour to win this award.<br />

Now, I would like to invite you all to enjoy reading the poems of the winners of the<br />

<strong>Taaleem</strong> <strong>Award</strong> <strong>2018</strong>!<br />

Eman Al Hammadi<br />

Competitions Manager & Arabic Education Relationship Officer.


CONTENTS<br />

11 and under<br />

Memories ............................................. 8<br />

Aditi Gandhi<br />

Bricks and Birds ....................................... 10<br />

Anna Sofie Vinter<br />

Disappearing Memories ................................. 12<br />

Inaz Violet Humphrey<br />

12-14<br />

Abstract Memories of the Past ............................ 16<br />

Tanvi Tiana Dhingra<br />

Regret .............................................. 18<br />

Araisa Sayyed<br />

In your memory ....................................... 20<br />

Cianna Sarah Vipin<br />

15-17<br />

Gigabytes ............................................ 24<br />

Farida Amr<br />

Why Brain, Why?....................................... 26<br />

Sylvia Elise Waft<br />

Ichor ................................................ 28<br />

Eyad Abdulazim<br />

18-25<br />

We Shall be Remembered ............................... 32<br />

Ayesha Arif<br />

uninvited guest........................................ 34<br />

Neeraja Rajkumar<br />

Roots ............................................... 36<br />

Letitia Jiju


Judge’s Overview for 11 & under<br />

I have always loved reading the poems of this age group. There are often gems and<br />

surprises that come from younger writers. This year was no exception. I am, as always,<br />

aware that there may be some very young children competing in this group and that<br />

the age range is large. However, as I read these poems blind, i.e. I do not have names,<br />

age, or school information, I am unable to tell what sort of an impact this has. In any<br />

event, I am required to judge one poem against another irrespective of any age gap. So<br />

if you’re six years old and your poem hasn’t been chosen, don’t worry. Your day may<br />

well come. Just be pleased you took part. That’s a big deal. And keep writing. I want to<br />

see more poems from you next year.<br />

The judging of these poems was a slow process. Every poem was read at least once.<br />

From the first reading, a short list of 35 poems was compiled for further review and<br />

from this the final selection of winning and highly commended poems was made. Sadly,<br />

I found that three of these poems were copied from the internet and were not the work<br />

of the child. It is clear that teachers could be doing more to filter out copied/partially<br />

copied poems and to explain to the children that this is not acceptable. It is not good for<br />

the children and it’s not good for the competition. I try my best to identify and eliminate<br />

such poems – but I can never be sure. And that’s a sad situation.<br />

That said, I have some great poems and worthy winners to share with you.<br />

Frank Dullaghan<br />

December 2017


11 and under


Memories<br />

Aditi Gandhi, The Winchester School, Jebel Ali, 10<br />

Yes...I gazed in the eyes of a dead bird,<br />

It jolted me to no ends,<br />

The flow of life no more,<br />

The glisten gone,<br />

The blinking and the warmth,<br />

The tweet and the tickle,<br />

The clinging and the fluttering,<br />

The solitude and the silence,<br />

A lump in the mouth…<br />

Yes…I saw my mother,<br />

In the stillness of a stiff moment,<br />

No longer a caress or a chuckle,<br />

Static glare and a still stare,<br />

Lifeless, dull and unbearable,<br />

My heart pounding endlessly,<br />

Swarms of uneasy wriggling,<br />

Choking my innermost being,<br />

The one responsible for my existence,<br />

Was no more,<br />

But alive…she always will be,<br />

In the chambers of my memory lane.<br />

8


This poem begins with an<br />

encounter with a dead bird<br />

and then moves onto the death<br />

of a mother – “Yes…I saw my<br />

mother/ in the stillness of a<br />

stiff moment”. The language<br />

in this poem is simple but its<br />

use is profound, like that ‘stiff<br />

moment’ in the lines quoted.<br />

The emotional impact, as a<br />

result, is, to quote from the<br />

beginning of the poem, “it jolted<br />

me to no ends”.<br />

9


Bricks and Birds<br />

Anna Sofie Vinter, American School Dubai, 9<br />

I think a bad memory is like a brick<br />

We need a lot of them to build a wall<br />

Small bad memories build walls around you<br />

One big bad memory can lead to one big brick<br />

making a wall without taking the time to build it<br />

If we let the bricks get in our way, we won’t be able to go any farther<br />

and in the end we won’t be able to get out.<br />

I think if a wall was built,<br />

We need to spend time to deal with it<br />

Small walls you can jump over<br />

But the tall walls change your yearning to try<br />

It takes time, because that is what a bad memory wants<br />

for time to take you and keep you in the dark<br />

I think a good memory is like a bird<br />

We become colorful and can sing beautifully<br />

Suddenly the walls are lower<br />

because we fly high with our heads in the blurry sky<br />

Our heads are up in the clouds and we feel like we never want to leave<br />

and many people’s goals in life is to become a bird and, if there,<br />

fly over the walls<br />

10


This poem is an extended<br />

metaphor where bad memories<br />

are seen as bricks that can form<br />

a wall that becomes impossible<br />

to climb over. Really bad<br />

memories can be just one big<br />

gigantic brick that can hold you<br />

back all by itself. I love the idea<br />

of this poem and the insight it<br />

provides. Good memories, on the<br />

other hand, are like birds that<br />

allow us to soar over the walls.<br />

Wonderful!<br />

11


Disappearing Memories<br />

Inaz Violet Humphrey, Kings’ School Dubai, 11<br />

“Her mind is different,” they told us,<br />

A fluttering red bird too intricate for its own good,<br />

A building on fire too grand to take down,<br />

A devastating story too heartbreaking to forget.<br />

Her mind had let go of thousands of things,<br />

Starting with dates of wars and deaths of royalty,<br />

But grew worse as days went on,<br />

As her mind had let go of names of family and days of importance.<br />

The curiosity in her eye had disappeared,<br />

Like foul night-birds at the break of dawn.<br />

She had forgotten who I was,<br />

What she called her ultimate supporter and dearest friend.<br />

The sweet pine scent that she used to love,<br />

No longer brought up memories in her mind of home and comfort,<br />

As she had forgotten about that too.<br />

12


Now I sit in a hospital room,<br />

My dear older sister laying sound beside me,<br />

My hand clasped around hers as if we were clueless kids once again,<br />

But we aren’t clueless kids anymore as nothing can be the way it used to.<br />

We are grownup now but I still feel like a kid,<br />

Hoping for my favourite teddy to come out of ‘surgery’ good as new.<br />

A gasp coughed out of her body,<br />

As she shot up to a sitting position.<br />

Heavy breaths enter and exits her body,<br />

As her eyes meet mine,<br />

“Inaz?” she asked.<br />

This poem deals with the difficult<br />

subject of losing memories. The<br />

mind of a sister is described<br />

as “a fluttering red bird too<br />

intricate for its own good”. The<br />

language is mature and the<br />

narrative handled well. This is<br />

another poem that stands out<br />

within this age group both for its<br />

subject matter and its execution.<br />

13


Judge’s Overview for 12-14<br />

The judging of these poems was a slow process. Every poem was read at least once.<br />

From the first reading, a long list of over 130 poems was compiled for further review<br />

and from this two subsequent shortlists were produced, eventually coming down to 37<br />

poems from which to make the final selection. These were the most outstanding poems<br />

from all submitted for this age group. The standard, as you might expect, was high.<br />

However, there is one other thing I have learned to do at this stage. I needed to check<br />

that the poems weren’t copied from books or off the internet. Poems submitted must<br />

be the work of the child. Sadly, I found that more than half of the poems at this stage<br />

of the judging were in fact copied. Some copied poems were submitted multiple times<br />

by different children. Some of these poems were close together, suggesting they came<br />

from the same school. It is clear that teachers could be doing more to filter out copied/<br />

partially copied poems and to explain to the children that this is not acceptable. It is not<br />

good for the children and it’s not good for the competition. I try my best to identify and<br />

eliminate such poems – but I can never be sure I have done so. And that’s a regrettable<br />

place to be.<br />

Frank Dullaghan<br />

December 2017


12 - 14


Abstract Memories of the Past<br />

Tanvi Tiana Dhingra, GEMS International School Al Khail, 14<br />

When I was 10;<br />

I saw a person’s life flash before my eyes and I knew that those were my memories,<br />

I was too late…<br />

When I was 9;<br />

I felt the heat of a burning house and I knew the smell of burning flesh would be<br />

remembered,<br />

I couldn’t do anything…<br />

When I was 8;<br />

I saw a woman kneel down and show me a ring and I knew I would say yes,<br />

I was flying with the stars…<br />

When I was 7;<br />

I saw an angel come down and I knew I was special,<br />

I was changed…<br />

When I was 6;<br />

I stood over a dead man’s body and I knew the blood on my hands wasn’t mine,<br />

I cried…<br />

When I was 5;<br />

I looked in the mirror and I knew that wasn’t my face,<br />

I was filled with a whirlwind of emotions…<br />

16


When I was 4;<br />

A woman stepped in front of me and took a bullet to the chest<br />

and I knew she shouldn’t have,<br />

I wasn’t her daughter…<br />

When I was 3;<br />

I saw rivers polluted and forests felled and I knew I had to do something,<br />

I didn’t know what to do…<br />

When I was 2;<br />

I jumped into the sea and talked with the fish but I knew my tail wasn’t real,<br />

I didn’t believe in the impossible…<br />

When I was 1;<br />

I saw ashes and fire and bones and I knew the world was ending,<br />

I didn’t know the worst was yet to come.<br />

This is a highly unusual poem<br />

for the age group – enigmatic,<br />

challenging. It is one of those<br />

poems that seems to take you<br />

to a different place, perhaps<br />

memories of past lives, perhaps<br />

just a different thought process.<br />

But this uniqueness and<br />

particularity is the real stuff of<br />

poetry. The poem stood out for<br />

this reason and suggests that<br />

the poet will produce other<br />

strong poems in the future.<br />

17


Regret<br />

Araisa Sayyed, The Apple International School, 14<br />

Regret washed her<br />

Like the slow waves on sandy beach.<br />

Each wave was icy cold.<br />

That sent shivers down her spine.<br />

How she longed to go back<br />

And take a different path,<br />

There was no way back.<br />

There was no way back.<br />

The remorse would eat her day and night.<br />

She wished to be pebbles,<br />

Cold and lifeless,<br />

To the torments of life.<br />

Regret is eating her,<br />

Like an infection.<br />

Bit by bit with passing time.<br />

It sweep her like waves ashore,<br />

She shouldn’t have done it at all.<br />

Can she ever make it right?<br />

She just doesn’t know how.<br />

How she longed to go back<br />

And take a different path,<br />

There was no way back.<br />

There was no way back.<br />

18


In a series of similes, the nature<br />

of regret is conveyed. We are not<br />

told what caused this regret.<br />

We do not need to know.<br />

The aptness of the images, the<br />

considered line breaks, and the<br />

apt use of repetition, show off<br />

a skill level not often seen at<br />

this age. This is a well-deserved<br />

second place in a highly<br />

talented field.<br />

19


In your memory<br />

Cianna Sarah Vipin, RAK Academy, 12<br />

It’s hard to forget you when you gave me so much to remember,<br />

The way you laughed, how your eyes glowed like ember<br />

Down my cheeks roll all our memories<br />

How we fixed each other like a puzzle and its final piece<br />

I think of you, each second, every hour of each passing day<br />

I got too attached, even though I knew you wouldn’t stay<br />

You said you could take a storm but I was a hurricane<br />

I knew you couldn’t take it, but I let you in anyway<br />

My memory still loves you, it asks about you all the time<br />

I knew you could make me laugh, I didn’t realize you could also make me cry<br />

We were inseparable for what seemed like centuries<br />

But now we’re just strangers with some powerful memories<br />

20


This is a love poem. Love poems<br />

in this age group tend to be<br />

sentimental, too telling. But this<br />

one lets the images carry the<br />

emotional weight – “how we<br />

find each other like a puzzle and<br />

its final piece”. It feels authentic.<br />

It feels just right.<br />

21


Judge’s Overview for 15-17 & 18-25<br />

Altogether there were over 350 entries in these age groups which, although that made<br />

judging a long process, was very encouraging. It was discouraging, however, to find<br />

so many poems which did not conform to the theme or were plagiarised, and many<br />

promising poems had to be dismissed out of carelessness. If you are going to enter<br />

a competition, then make it your best effort. My personal thanks go to those students<br />

who took their time to eliminate errors of grammar and punctuation in order to craft<br />

their best work.<br />

“Memories” proved to be an excellent theme with many varied approaches and some<br />

really memorable, original and personal responses. The shortlists were long and final<br />

choices difficult to make. Response to poems is personal – like listening to music; the<br />

winning poems were those that kept on resonating regardless of time of day, weather<br />

or my mood!<br />

Thank you <strong>Taaleem</strong>, parents and teachers for your continuing support, enthusiasm and<br />

encouragement.<br />

Joan Scott-Minter<br />

December 2017


15 - 17


Gigabytes<br />

Farida Amr, Emirates International School, Jumeirah, 15<br />

One day, I promise, I’ll grab you by the hand,<br />

I’ll drag you off this lonely land.<br />

I’ll break through your walls, brave through your spikes,<br />

To rescue you from that world of hashtags and likes.<br />

Can you remember, my dear, how it was before?<br />

Colours, lights, emotions galore!<br />

But now that old slate has been wiped clean,<br />

Our only light these days comes from our screen.<br />

Folded notes forgotten, now we just text<br />

I wonder what we’ll stop doing next?<br />

A shoebox on our top shelf holds mixtapes, photos, pens,<br />

Now we can only see the world through a Snapchat lense.<br />

We’re living in bubbles, each to his own ,<br />

Oblivious, as we get swept away by the cyclone.<br />

So tell me, my darling, when did we become so trite,<br />

To measure memories in gigabytes?<br />

24


The first two rather prosaic lines<br />

of Farida’s poem seem not to<br />

fit with the title and do not give<br />

a hint of what is to follow – a<br />

look at modern communication<br />

with a view of a future devoid<br />

of romanticism – a “world<br />

of hashtags and likes”. The<br />

controlled rhyme and rhythm<br />

perfectly reflect the speed at<br />

which technology develops<br />

and begins to dominate and<br />

eliminate more old-fashioned<br />

ways of recording and<br />

preserving memories: “colour,<br />

lights, emotions galore.” She sees no romance in “Snapchat and texts”<br />

unlike “photos” and “folded notes”.<br />

“Gigabytes” is refreshing in its modernity and relevance and perhaps<br />

alerts us or echoes what many people see and fear are the dangers of<br />

technology. Well done Farida.<br />

25


Why Brain, Why?<br />

Sylvia Elise Waft, Dubai College, 16<br />

Neurons, synapses, electrical impulses,<br />

The brain drives; we ride,<br />

No map to guide us.<br />

A tangled task,<br />

Which memories stay and which go?<br />

Could it be random?<br />

Memories assigned a number<br />

From one to ten;<br />

Even numbers stay!<br />

So I remember the colour of my bedroom when I was six,<br />

Not my grandmother’s face.<br />

Perhaps self-improvement.<br />

The brain wants us to learn,<br />

And not repeat mistakes.<br />

Bad memories warn us.<br />

So I remember the failed exam,<br />

Not the question I got right.<br />

Maybe it’s cruelty.<br />

No forgiveness for you, ha, ha, ha!<br />

26


Spotlights on the bad,<br />

Good shoved offstage.<br />

So I remember the harsh words between us,<br />

Not the laughter we shared.<br />

Which is true? Any? All? None?<br />

Complex and unexplained,<br />

The brain is a master machine.<br />

A simple memory is joy in a moment,<br />

Tears in eyes,<br />

Or lost forever.<br />

Sylvia’s poem echoes the idea of<br />

other entries about how memory<br />

works but at a more specific,<br />

scientific and humorous level.<br />

The title is apposite: why does<br />

the brain choose which things<br />

we remember? She plays with<br />

the good/bad results of how<br />

‘the brain drives” and “we ride”<br />

as though we have no control<br />

over the choice. She questions<br />

whether it is random, or so<br />

we can learn, or just cruelty.<br />

Memory is given a real character<br />

and voice: “no forgiveness for you ha, ha, ha!” Each stanza supports its first<br />

line and ends with the choice to be made between good and bad memory.<br />

I particularly like the elegant and rather poignant ending “A simple<br />

memory is joy in a moment”– a satisfactory conclusion to an interesting<br />

and well-developed poem.<br />

27


Ichor<br />

Eyad Abdulazim, Pristine Private School, 15<br />

A house that overflows with memories,<br />

From its windows seep clear tears;<br />

Some droplets as fresh as roses,<br />

Others as salty as fear.<br />

A garden that blooms through rains,<br />

And winds, and shakes, and blows;<br />

May just grow the weakest shrubs,<br />

Or have lilacs purple in rows.<br />

Fingers, chipped and nipped,<br />

Cut, scratched, and scarred,<br />

From the hardest of work,<br />

Or the softest guitars.<br />

A heart, broken to a million pieces,<br />

Bitten by a thousand snakes,<br />

May become numb and weary,<br />

Accustomed to the aches,<br />

Or just beat that much stronger,<br />

Ready to make the chase.<br />

The tears from the windows,<br />

The tunes of the guitar,<br />

The millions of pieces,<br />

The countless scars,<br />

They run through our veins like ichor,<br />

Making us who we are.<br />

28


Similar to Sylvia’s poem, Eyad<br />

also uses negative and positive<br />

outcomes to circumstances<br />

outside our control. Ichor, the<br />

ethereal blood of Greek Gods,<br />

suggests that it is chance which<br />

determines the outcome and<br />

which is ultimately responsible<br />

for “making us who we are.”<br />

Generally this is a wellconstructed<br />

poem with good use<br />

of rhyme and rhythm.<br />

29


18 - 25


We Shall be Remembered<br />

Ayesha Arif, International Training Institute, 18<br />

The Future has come knocking at my door today.<br />

It comes bearing calendars and, <br />

Tells me I have had six thousand five hundred and seventy days of my life, <br />

Asks me why I refused to live them.<br />

I tell him I am afraid that I will have six thousand five hundred and seventy days more,<br />

And I will not remember any of them either, <br />

That I will fade away into the night, forgotten.<br />

And so it wraps me unceremoniously in its arms and says:<br />

“You were born when autumn walked barefoot on the cooling earth,<br />

Trailing the burnt gold of farewell in her wake.<br />

You were born under the cover of the night,<br />

And your battle cry roused it from its slumber,<br />

Forcing the constellations to burn themselves brighter to lull it back to sleep.<br />

And your name was perfectly engraved onto the stars,<br />

That not even a hundred black holes can wipe away.<br />

Child, <br />

You are an explosion of colors waiting to happen.<br />

Of course, <br />

It is just an ephemeral blink of eternity.<br />

32


And of course,<br />

You too will fade away into icy darkness one day. <br />

But like the leaves, <br />

You will hold on with tenacious ferocity till you are able.<br />

Perhaps, <br />

This is how you will inspire. <br />

This is your legacy.”<br />

“We Shall Be Remembered” is an<br />

apposite title because this is one<br />

of the most memorable poems<br />

this year. The reader is captured<br />

right from the beginning. At first,<br />

the tone is negative: the speaker<br />

is afraid of not remembering<br />

and will “fade into the night,<br />

forgotten”.<br />

The single line “And so it wraps<br />

me unceremoniously in its arms”<br />

is arresting; then the imagery<br />

and musicality of the poem<br />

become enchanting: “You were<br />

born when autumn walked barefoot on the cooling earth” and “Child,<br />

you are an explosion of colours”. The final stanza is effective because it is<br />

simple and elegant and positive.<br />

Ayesha has shown great control and poetic ability; there are no errors,<br />

nothing unexplained or unnecessary. This is a poem truly deserving of first<br />

place. Thank you Ayesha.<br />

33


uninvited guest<br />

Neeraja Rajkumar, National Film and Television School, 23<br />

there is an uninvited guest outside my door<br />

he is knocking, light and quick and i am not his friend<br />

my hand does not turn the handle; the door remains closed<br />

but despite it, in he comes.<br />

His name? Time.<br />

he is a magician, bewitching me with his sleight of hand<br />

the smallest of blinks and here i am, age 15.<br />

another blink: 27. 34. 52.<br />

not spiders or heights, nor demons or ghosts - i fear him.<br />

for he is an invisible thief; swift on his feet and omnipresent<br />

no one can catch him - no one can find him - for he is no one.<br />

he looms at large, hovering behind every corner on every street.<br />

it seems like yesterday my mother told me<br />

i was to have a brother! chubby ankles and soft cheeks<br />

eyes as dark and luminous as marbles, he holds on to my finger<br />

as if his life depended on it; it is the most beautiful thing in the world.<br />

time comes by, ever the courteous stranger,<br />

waves his deft fingers: stretches out my little brother like a reed<br />

so much so he is no longer little at all - gone are his stout legs,<br />

his pout of a belly, his fondness of all things stuffed and soft.<br />

all that remains are his linen eyes; that, time cannot take.<br />

sometimes i hid in places where he couldn’t find me:<br />

the rooftop of my childhood home, before the sun awoke<br />

and all the world was still (every breath felt like the first).<br />

34


at 2 pm lunch break; the giggles and furtive secrets shared between two<br />

in the hush of the stairwells at school.<br />

the cosy spot by the window in my first apartment<br />

chai cup warming my cold hands as the rain poured heavily outside.<br />

the more time took, the more i learnt as he let loose leaves of truth:<br />

let every unbridled moment burn like the stars against the black of the night<br />

each twinkling bright with their own memory -<br />

long gone, but never truly lost.<br />

“uninvited guest” is a title which<br />

tempts you to read on – who<br />

is the uninvited guest, what<br />

part does he play – and you are<br />

rewarded with good storytelling,<br />

excellent imagery and a<br />

satisfying positive ending. Time<br />

is personified as a magician,<br />

invisible thief, a courteous<br />

stranger who bewitches “with<br />

his sleight of hand” so that<br />

the years pass too quickly and<br />

changes happen before we are<br />

ready for them. I love Neeraja’s<br />

description of her new baby brother and the clever image of Time quickly<br />

stretching him out. It is sentimental without pathos and I smile as I imagine<br />

brother and sister playing together and staying friends as grown ups.<br />

The final stanza reveals the lesson to “let every unbridled moment burn like<br />

the stars…” “long gone, but never truly lost” – like your poem, Neeraja!<br />

Well done.<br />

35


Roots<br />

Letitia Jiju, Manipal University, 22<br />

Long before adolescence had bit into my flesh and gradually<br />

Over the years sank its teeth into my soul, sly predator<br />

I had a fondness for mangoes from Kottayam.<br />

The kind that swayed in the dull moist wind -<br />

We had a tree whose roots seemed ethereal.<br />

My grandfather seemed to know exactly when the mangoes<br />

Were to break away from their temporary attachments.<br />

He never could make any such premonitions about his own children.<br />

He often cites this as one of his failures and even if he doesn’t articulate it -<br />

I know this.<br />

He would quickly climb a ladder, pluck each wobbly young mango<br />

One by one and hand them to me. My grandmother would<br />

Peel their skin, slice them into cubes and feed me.<br />

She’s partially deaf now. The other part,<br />

She pretends most of it. Her selective hearing is her disposition,<br />

Not from aging or peeling away mango skins or her children.<br />

She wears it like a cloak at nights, walks the hallways, a captive<br />

In her own home, steals short-lived glances of her grandchildren asleep.<br />

The crickets can hear her.<br />

They always do.<br />

Silence has settled into this house the way a dying moth rests its cold wings.<br />

The mango tree was cut years after the moth had died.<br />

36


I cannot look at my grandfather, his hunched back, protruding belly<br />

As if he stomachs his loss. My grandmother’s mouth<br />

Breaks into the saddest smile and I pray that I’d never have to see it again.<br />

Her detergent hands cup my face and I smell the mangoes.<br />

And I hear the crickets.<br />

And I see the dying moth.<br />

And I wonder if my lineage is of inherited ghosts.<br />

Letitia’s personal reminiscence<br />

of her grandparents and the<br />

mangoes is an understated<br />

poem which sounds quite<br />

colloquial, yet is cleverly<br />

constructed and full of images;<br />

adolescence is a “sly predator”;<br />

“silence has settled into<br />

this house the way a dying<br />

moth rests its cold wings”;<br />

grandmother’s “detergent<br />

hands”.<br />

I particularly like the descriptions<br />

of grandfather’s “hunched back,<br />

protruding belly as if he stomachs his loss” and grandmother’s partial<br />

deafness: “The other part, she pretends most of it. Her selective hearing is<br />

her disposition. …She wears it like a cloak at nights.”<br />

This is good storytelling in a poem which gets better with every reading.<br />

Well done Letitia.<br />

37


Frank Dullaghan lives in Dubai. He holds an MA with Distinction in Writing from the<br />

University of South Wales. Whilst in the UK he co-founded the Essex Poetry Festival<br />

and edited Seam Poetry Magazine. He has published three poetry collections (On<br />

the Back of the Wind, 2008, Enough Light to See the Dark, 2012, and The Same<br />

Roads Back, 2014) from Cinnamon Press in the UK, and two haiku collections.<br />

Frank has run workshops in poetry and short story writing in schools, university and<br />

for various literary and writing groups. His screenplay Melody featured in the best<br />

short films Dubai 48 hour Film competition 2012 and won the audience award in the<br />

Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival 2013. He has also written short stage plays which have been<br />

performed in Dubai. In 2014, he provided the final English poetic translations (from literal translations) for His<br />

Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s book, Flashes of Verse.<br />

Frank’s fourth collection, Lifting the Latch, is due out from Cinnamon Press in May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Joan Scott-Minter came to Dubai in 1989 as a full-time teacher and, although<br />

she retired in 2000, she has continuously been involved in children’s education<br />

and children’s literature as a teacher, writer, mentor and editor. Her first musical<br />

Nagwaja, published by Maverick Musicals in Australia, has been performed in many<br />

countries including Dubai. Joan has been involved with the Emirates Airline Festival<br />

of Literature since its inception and remains enthusiastically committed.


زينب إبراهيم البلوشي،عضوة في رابطة أديبات اإلمارات ومنتدى<br />

شاعرات اإلمارات.‏ حاصلة على المركز السادس في برنامج شاعر<br />

المليون – الموسم السابع،‏ شاركت في العديد من األمسيات داخل<br />

وخارج الدولة وحاصلة على العديد من الجوائز في مجال الشعر<br />

الشعبي،‏ ومحكمة للعديد من المسابقات منها:‏ شاعر المليون<br />

لألطفال والمسابقة الدولية ‏)النخلة في غيوم العالم(‏<br />

عبداهلل الهدية الشحي،‏ شاعر وباحث إماراتي من مواليد رأس الخيمة،‏<br />

وهو من شعراء القصيدة العربية الفصحى والنبطية،‏ ألّف العديد من<br />

األناشيد الملحمية،‏ وما يعرف بفن األوبريت،‏ شارك في العديد من<br />

األمسيات داخل وخارج الدولة،‏ ومثّل اإلمارات في األسابيع الثقافية<br />

في عدة دول،‏ كما أسهم في الحركة األدبية والمشهد الشعري<br />

من خالل المحاضرات واألمسيات الكثيرة في المراكز والمؤسسات<br />

والنوادي واتحاد كُ‏ تّاب وأدباء اإلمارات،‏ يعمل الهدية على تكريس حب<br />

الشعر الفصيح والنبطي وعلم العروض والقوافي،‏ له عدة إصدارات:‏<br />

‏»ابتسام العمر«‏ و»إلى متى«‏ و»أين أنت«،‏ ينشر قصائده في مختلف<br />

الصحف والمجالت داخل وخارج اإلمارات،‏ وقد حصل الشاعر عبداهلل<br />

الهدية الشحي على العديد من الجوائز في مجال الشعر،‏ منها جائزة<br />

العويس لإلبداع عن ديوانه ‏»الباحث عن إرم«‏ كأفضل ديوان شعر .

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